This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Foreign Policy

  • Political campaigns as foreign policy

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    Well, I feel better, don’t you? The guy who makes weekly pronouncements about how he “created or saved” hundreds of thousands of jobs while the unemployment rate increases by hundreds of thousands of jobs lost reassures the world. And then he impores the other leaders of the world to follow his plan (AP Link);

    Obama urged national leaders to unite behind a global recovery plan that includes stricter financial regulation and sustained stimulus spending.

    The short version; more regulation, more government spending, more taxes.

    The president rejected suggestions that the summit fell short of expectations by failing to call for tough new sanctions on Iran for its crackdown on democracy advocates after its disputed presidential election.

    “What we wanted is exactly what we got — a statement of unity and strong condemnation,” Obama said. He said the leaders’ declaration was even more significant because it included Russia, “which doesn’t make statements like that lightly.”

    How many statements of unity and strong condemnations have there been in the last few years? Did human history begin on January 20th, 2009? All history before that date doesn’t count? North Korea is launching missiles like bottle rockets, the Islamic Republic’s police are beating the snot out of everyone on the street (when they’re not shooting them or hanging them). And that “Russia doesn’t make statements like that lightly” line should have been made on his knees with his face buried in Putin’s shorts.

    Is he saying the whole rest of the world DOES make statements lightly? Thanks, allies, now get behind Russia – everyone who does things to the detriment of the US and our security seems to get a seat in front. Screw the rest of them.

    Just like Obama’s political campaigns. Blacks, Hispanics, unions, gays, the traditional Democrat voters – get tossed aside so he can woo the folks who don’t want to vote for him. When Obama goes overseas, American interests and those of our allies get tossed aside so he can woo the thugs. Remind you of anyone?

    Read my post at my Latin American politics blog, Tall & Rich, for another example of our current poor foreign policy.

  • Nuclear Russian roulette

    Earlier this week President Obama signed a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia proudly claiming it’s benefits. He stopped just short of waving the treaty and pronouncing “peace in our time”. This morning in the Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer writes;

    Obama says that his START will be a great boon, setting an example to enable us to better pressure North Korea and Iran to give up their nuclear programs. That a man of Obama’s intelligence can believe such nonsense is beyond comprehension. There is not a shred of evidence that cuts by the great powers — the INF treaty, START I, the Treaty of Moscow (2002) — induced the curtailment of anyone’s programs. Moammar Gaddafi gave up his nukes the week we pulled Saddam Hussein out of his spider hole. No treaty involved. The very notion that Kim Jong Il or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will suddenly abjure nukes because of yet another U.S.-Russian treaty is comical.

    Wasting no time to prove that his treaty with Russia will do no such thing, today Obama set a final deadline for the Islamic Republic to provide a bit of transparency on it’s nuclear program according to the Washington Times;

    On Iran, Mr. Obama raised expectations for a September international summit in Pittsburgh, saying the invited nations will take stock of whether Iran has complied with international demands over its nuclear programs. He also denied reports that Washington tried but failed to achieve agreement on new sanctions here, saying the statement was what he wanted.

    “It provides a time frame,” Mr. Obama said. “If Iran chooses not to walk through that door, then you have on record the G-8 to begin with, but I think potentially a lot of other countries, that are going to say we need to take further steps.”

    Further steps? More deadlines that Iran will ignore? Actually, I think the Obama Administration and Old Europe are hoping Israel will strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities and bomb them into dust as Joe Biden hinted earlier in the week. That would free them up from making any tough decisions. The same tactic Old Europe used in regards to Iraq – sit on their hands until someone else does what needs to be done, and then condemn the one one who had the guts to act. That way they’re absolved of having to act in a politically unpopular manner.

    Obama’s random deadlines and imprecise brow beatings just make it more likely that Israel is going to get tired of the Old World’s procrastination.

    So now that there’s no George Bush to save the world from itself, Israel has to step up and be the man among children – and then take their lumps in the form of stern rebukes from the UN’s General Assembly.

  • UN coaxes OAS to act on Honduras

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    The United Nations’ Secretary General, who can’t see anything to complain about when Chavez nationalizes private property in Venezuela, or when Ortega does the same in Nicaragua, or when Correa of Ecuador lends moral and material support to terrorists, urged the Organization of American States to step in and “restore the Constitutional order” in Honduras. From El Universal;

    The Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, requested Monday the restoration, under the auspices of the Organization of American Estados (OAS), of the “constitutional order” in Honduras, where president Manuel Zelaya was stopped and expelled by the military.

    The OAS must assume “a leadership role to find a peaceful solution so that the constitutional order can be restored”, said Ban.

    Those are some real pretty words – except that the Constitutional order has been restored. Zelaya was the fella who violated the Honduran constitution as I explained yesterday. The bloodshed in Honduras is because the OAS, Chavez, Correa, Fernandez and Ortega won’t keep their fingers out of Honduras.

    If Ban is so concerned about the deaths yesterday, he’d be telling the OAS to step back instead of pursuing a path towards more blood shed.

    And if Zelaya had a brain in his head, he’d throw up his hands, too. He got off easy compared to a lot of deposed Latin American leaders of the last century.

    If he becomes too much of a pest to the Honduran government, they’ll have no other option than to kill his dumb ass so he can’t return. Sure he’d be a martyr, but he’d be dead.

  • Tankerbabe and other news

    Tankerbabe has a real cool story to tell you about a guitar. You need to read it. She emailed the story around a few weeks ago, but it hasn’t lost it’s luster when I read it again this morning.

    Something going around and showing up in my inbox is a story about Joe Biden’s speech to 200 new citizens who also happened to be military members and assigned to units currently deployed to Iraq.

    “As corny as it sounds,” he told the troops, “Damn, I’m proud to be an American!”

    Knowledge Is Power has pretty good response from DougM. (Hat tip to Chuck)

    Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley tells a constituent that if they want good health care, they should work for the government…and eat cake, too, I suppose;

    I don’t know why anyone thinks government employees’ health care is so good, by the way. There are a bunch of plans and if you want to pay a lot, you can get a great plan – I’ve had better and cheaper plans from civilian employers. I get the impression that everyone thinks government employees get free health care or something.

    Stars and Stripes reports that tourism is “booming” in Iraq. S&S also does a story about the 3rd Infantry Division “wargaming” the withdrawal from Iraq.

    Michelle Malkin started the story about fallen soldier Aaron Masters, Twitter spread it, and now Fox News writes about him.

    This isn’t news, but the price of oil fell again – just like it falls every year after the 4th of July – and every year, for some reason, it’s news.

    And this is just funny from Genghis at Ace of Spades.

    I’m actually working on something that’s pretty complicated and it won’t be up for awhile yet, so I threw these links together so everyone didn’t think I was in the stupid hospital again.

  • Zelaya heads home to Honduras (Updated 3x)

    Scroll for UPDATES.

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    A few minutes ago, Manuel Zelaya, the ousted President of Honduras, headed back to Honduras on a Venzuelan (surprise!) jet, according to the Associated Press. The Constitutional President, Roberto Micheletti, has instructed the Honduran military to prevent the jet from landing with the former president.

    Thousands of protesters descended on the airport in the Honduran capital in anticipation of the showdown, some of them pressing against several hundred soldiers with riot shields. Police helicopters hovered overhead, and commercial flights were canceled.

    Micheletti also alleged that Nicaragua is moving troops to their border in an attempt at psychological intimidation, and warned them not to cross into Honduras, “because we’re ready to defend our border.”

    Zelaya is flying back to Honduras on a Venezuelan jet, the Nicaraguan army is on Honduras’ border, and where is our President? I guess he’s taking his instructions from Daniel Ortega these days;

    Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega called on the White House to hold firm against Honduras coup.

    Ortega recalled that after two months as president, Barack Obama suspended all form of cooperation with the de facto government in Madagascar.

    The least we can expect of Obama is to act with the same firmness now, he pointed out.

    The Sandinista leader told pres that the struggle against the coup continues, seeking the reestablishment of constitutional order through the return of President Manuel Zelaya to complete his mandate.

    From El Universal, my Calle J translation;

    The director of Civil Aeronautics of Honduras, Alfredo San Martin, assured the media today that the airplane that transports the demoted president of Honduras Manuel Zelaya from Washington [DC] will land in El Salvador because it does not have authorization to land in Honduran territory. San Martin indicated to the press that, because of the refusal of the Honduran authorities, the plane ” was turned aside to El Salvador, and will not land in Tegucigalpa”.

    The Honduran chancellor, Enrique Ortez, among others announced that his Government would not allow the landing of the airplane of Zelaya, reasons, for ” prudence” , he indicated.

    So where, exactly, is our President? I guess he’s in his Russia mode and can’t switch back to American mode right now.

    UPDATE: Fausta confirms that Zelaya’s plane landed in El Salvador and Honduran police have allowed protesters pass onto the airport after they promised not to commit any acts of violence.

    UPDATE: Noticias 24 reports that Zelaya’s plane is attempting to land in Honduras;

    The channel TeleSur reports that the airplane which President Zelaya has been flying over the Toncontín airport is unable to land due to the obstacles that the military placed.

    Vehicles of the troops were deployed along the runway, while helicopters flew over the airport to prevent the demoted president of Honduras from landing.

    The pilot of the airplane, in a contact with Telesur, indicated that they requested the authorization to land but it was not granted to them, threatening that they would intercept them.

    And to answer MD’s comment below;

    Zelaya, from the airplane, called for the President of the US, Barack Obama to take a firmer position in the conflict and to collaborate to speed his return to the power.

    President Chávez, minutes later, made the same plea and said that “there is no longer any doubt that the “gorilla government” [he said “gorilla” not “guerrilla” and he refers to the new Honduran government] had the support of the North American Empire”.

    Why would Chavez and Zelaya want US intervention if they weren’t already assured of the outcome.

    UPDATE: BBC reports at least one dead at the airport in clashes with the police.

  • OAS suspends Honduras; sets up bloodshed

    A week after the dramatic removal of Manuel Zelaya from his position as President of Honduras, the Organization of American States suspended the small country’s membership according to the Wall Street Journal;

    “The suspension takes effect immediately,” Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana said, reading the resolution before the body. The move temporarily sidelines Honduras from any participation in the OAS, but obliges it to continue observing the body’s rules in areas such as human rights.

    It also deepens the poor Central American nation’s international isolation ahead of a looming showdown on Sunday in the Honduran capital, where Mr. Zelaya plans to return despite warnings of a potentially bloody confrontation and the interim government’s vow to arrest him and put him on trial.

    The small country’s new leaders had told the OAS that Honduras would pull out of the body rather than let Mr. Zelaya back in the presidential seat. In an odd turn of events, the OAS said on Saturday that Honduras couldn’t withdraw because its provisional government wasn’t recognized by the international community.

    So this action which disregards the sovereignty and constitutional authority of Honduras to manage it’s own affairs, has emboldened Zelaya;

    “We will arrive at the international airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras with several presidents, (and) members of international organizations,” Mr. Zelaya told Caracas-based station Telesur, according to the Associated Press.

    See, here’s how that violates the Honduran Constitution. Article 42 of the Constitution reads “ARTICULO 42.- La calidad de ciudadano se pierde: * * * 5. Por incitar, promover o apoyar el continuismo o la reelección del Presidente de la República; y,” In my Calle J translation; “The legal rights of a citizen is lost: * * * For inciting, promoting or supporting the continuance or reelection of the president of the Republic.” So Zelaya has lost his Honduran citizenship – if he enters Honduras, he’s an illegal alien.

    Archbishop Oscar Andrés Rodríguez of Honduras asks the OAS and Zelaya to reconsider further interference according to the Miami Herald;

    “We think that a return to the country at this time could unleash a bloodbath in the country,” Cardinal Rodriguez said. “To this day, no Honduran has died. Please meditate because afterwards it would be too late.”

    As the OAS has stood mutely and watched the rights of Latin American citizens deteriorate through out the region, they make a stand against one small nation as it exercises it’s Constitution. At the same time, the OAS is considering adding the prison state of Cuba to it’s membership.

  • Hippie half-assed research

    TSO sent me a link to a POS article from Michael Moore’s empty head, apparently it originated at The Progressive and was written by Elizabeth DiNovella concerning what she calls  “The School of the Americas”.

    It’s actually called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation – it’s been called that for eight years since the Clinton Administration changed it. But I guess it’s too expensive to change their signs and T-shirts when they protest it, so the hippies still call it the School of the Americas.

    Ms. DiNovella tries to link one of the School’s graduates to the Honduran problem;

    The general at the center of the military coup in Honduras has a connection to the U.S. military—General Romeo Vasquez attended the School of the Americas (SOA).

    The School of the Americas…is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia. General Vasquez attended trainings at least twice–in 1976 and 1984, according to the watchdog group School of Americas Watch.

    Graduates of the School of the Americas/WHINSEC have a long history of repression and anti-democratic actions. The School has produced at least 11 Latin American dictators, including SOA grad General Juan Megler Castro who became military dictator of Honduras in 1975.

    Actually, while it was called The School of the Americas, 61,000 Latin American officers graduated from the course. Have there been 61,000 dictators in Latin America? So 11 out of 61,000 is a pretty good ratio.

    Now Honduran General Romeo Vasquez was imprisoned by President Zeyala last week for refusing to collect ballots printed and shipped to Honduras by Hugo Chavez – counter to the Honduran Constitution. He was then reinstated by the Supreme Court and the Honduran Congress, then commanded the troops who sent President Zeyala packing to Costa Rica.

    Even though he had the means to control the government in Honduras since he had most of the guns, immediately turned the government back over to the Honduran Congress.

    He was working on orders from the Congress and the Supreme Court who, in turn, were following the dictates of their constitution. Now, if he learned that while at The School of the Americas, it looks like they did a good job. General Vasquez didn’t turn into a dictator, like the 11 people Ms. DiNovella mentions, so I don’t know what her point was. Maybe she was just spouting off more hippie nonsense.

    Michael Moore gets twitchy every time someone mentions The School of the Americas (which was founded by a Democrat President and a Democrat Congress, by the way) and he thought posting that crap would make him look smart.

    But actually it just makes the Left look dumber for only doing half of the research. Now I can’t find anything on Hugo Chavez attending School of the Americas or the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, but I know for a fact, up until a few years ago, he sent his officers to Fort Benning to the school. So does Correa (Ecuador) and Morales (Bolivia). I’m not sure about Nicaragua these days.

  • Real story of the Honduran situation

    You’re probably not as interested in the Honduras thing as I am, but I spent time in the region and it’s hard to avoid this story. One of our readers who lives in Panama sent me this article from the English language Panama Guide.com and it gives a lot of background from the perspective of someone who lives in Honduras. It’s a long article, but I learned things I hadn’t known. For example; (more…)